Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said the NHS' commitment to see patients within four hours only applies to "urgent health problems".

Mr Hunt told the Commons there needed to be an "honest discussion" with the public about the purpose of Accident and Emergency departments, as he repeated calls for people who do not need A&E to stay away.

He said up to 30% of people using A&E do not need emergency care, and the four-hour target was only supposed to apply to genuine emergencies.

"This Government is committed to maintaining and delivering that four-hour commitment to patients," Mr Hunt said.

He said the NHS had been prepared for winter this year with 3,000 new nurses and 2,000 new doctors, but that this didn't "stop things falling over in one or two places".

Video:Hunt needs to get a grip, says Ashworth

Both the Prime Minister and Health Secretary have rejected the notion the NHS is in the midst of a "humanitarian crisis".

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Hunt said NHS hospitals will be able to cancel outpatient appointments as cold weather hits the UK.

He added that "distressed" trusts would be able to take action to relieve pressure, including ensuring people in care homes and residential homes really need to be taken to hospital, and trying to make more care beds available so elderly people who are medically fit can be discharged.

Shadow health secretary John Ashworth said: "Abandoning the four hour target is a total admission of failure by the Government.

Video:Theresa May: 'I don't accept Red Cross description of NHS'

"It's extraordinary that their only response to the Winter crisis is neither a cash injection for social care, nor clear moves to put the NHS on a proper financial footing but to instead to suggest a downgrade of the four hour A&E target."

It comes after two people died after lengthy waits on hospital trolleys at the Worcestershire Royal and figures showed A&E departments had to shut their doors to patients 140 times in December.

The scale of the crisis was underlined by figures that show a third of health trusts in England have issued alerts for urgent action to help them cope.

Hospital executives have reacted with disbelief to the comments from the PM and Health Secretary, saying scenes in hospitals were "unprecedented" and that "medical bodies across the country are reporting difficulties from the front line en masse".